Beijing is so large that where you stay shapes your whole trip. Distances between neighbourhoods are long and traffic can be slow, so the best rule is simple: stay inside or close to the old city, within walking distance of a metro station, and you will save hours. Here are the four areas we recommend for a first visit, and the hotel we would choose in each.
Wangfujing and Dongcheng: the best all-round base
Wangfujing, the city’s main shopping street, lies just east of the Forbidden City, so the palace, Jingshan Park and Tiananmen Square are a walk or a single metro stop away. The area is full of hotels, restaurants and department stores, and it is convenient rather than charming. For a splurge, The Peninsula Beijing is the grandest address in the old centre: an all-suite hotel on a lane off Wangfujing, with an indoor pool, a spa and three restaurants, under a kilometre from the palace. Dengshikou metro station is a few minutes away.
The hutongs of the old city: for character
Staying in the hutongs, the old lanes of courtyard houses, puts you in the middle of everyday Beijing, with noodle shops and morning markets at the door. Hotel Cote Cour is the place to do it in style: a fourteen-room boutique hotel around a traditional courtyard on Yanyue Hutong, decorated with art, with a rooftop terrace and free bicycles. For a more practical, good-value version of the same location, Holiday Inn Express Beijing Downtown sits on Lishi Hutong near Dongsi, with free breakfast and two metro stations within walking distance. Both are a short ride from the Lama Temple and the Drum Tower.
Sanlitun: for food and nightlife
Sanlitun, in Chaoyang district east of the old city, is modern Beijing at its liveliest, with international restaurants, cocktail bars, boutiques and open-air shopping streets. The imperial sights are a metro or taxi ride away, but the evenings are far livelier than in the old city. InterContinental Beijing Sanlitun is our choice, a minute from Tuanjiehu metro, with an indoor pool, a spa and a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Around the Temple of Heaven: for value
The old southern part of the city, around the Temple of Heaven and Tianqiao, is quieter and cheaper, and Line 8 runs north to Qianmen and the Shichahai lakes. Holiday Inn Express Beijing Temple of Heaven is our budget pick, four minutes from Tianqiao station, with free breakfast and the temple’s park close by for early-morning tai chi.
Matching base to trip
For a classic first visit with the Forbidden City on foot, The Peninsula Beijing or Holiday Inn Express Beijing Downtown. For atmosphere and quiet lanes, Hotel Cote Cour. For restaurants and nightlife, InterContinental Beijing Sanlitun. For the lowest prices near a metro line, Holiday Inn Express Beijing Temple of Heaven.
Practical tips
Book early for the Chinese national holidays, when prices rise and rooms sell out. Breakfast is included at both Holiday Inn Express hotels but charged separately at the five-star hotels unless your rate includes it. Ask your hotel to write its address in Chinese for taxi drivers, and use the front desk for help with the real-name reservations for the Forbidden City and other sights, which all need your passport.
